In the past, the benefits of noscapine have been recognized as an effective antitussive or cough depressant. The problem has been, however, that noscapine in salt form is characterized by a bitter taste, rendering it unpalatable and for the most part unused in liquid form for treating persons with severe coughing spells. In the past, the usual procedure for processing noscapine has been to either use the salt of noscapine, which is a soluble compound in aqueous solution or to acidify the noscapine alkaloid base in order to render it more soluble by conversion to the salt; however, in either event, the characteristic bad taste remains in the resulting mixture or solution.